Onwards

[Anastasia]

Gate.

Gate, gate, gate.

How do you make a gate open wide, when the bridge is already drawn and the path is known?

[Nephrite]

A gate has to lead somewhere, doesn't it?

Gate. This, he ponders.

But if there's already a bridge... then is the gate needed?

...

...

Unless the gate is an alternate way in to the same place, that the bridge doesn't go to? Hmmm.

But to open a gate, any gate... you usually need a key, don't you?

This, he ponders.

[Anastasia]

K:R check.

[Nephrite]

Take 10 for 110!

[Anastasia]

You recall one key above all others in archon lore.

The Hand of the Supplicator, a greatclub that serves as Sealtiel's personal weapon. It is said it can open any door, even the path to Chronias itself. Archon legend holds that on the last day, Barachiel shall blow his trumpet to signal for Sealtiel to open all the paths to Chronias wide.

[Nephrite]

Hmm... so perhaps there's another gate to Chronias, or something else...

He will have to reach out to Sealtiel when he has the time, perhaps it will give him another piece to the puzzle.

...If there are multiple ways in, someone has to be in charge of proverbially opening the gate individually, right?

Perhaps that's 'the key' in this case....?

This, he ponders.

[Anastasia]

You ponder for a time, lost in your own thoughts. Xandra comes to sit next to you, silent and merely providing you unspoken companionship.

[Nephrite]

Someone who guards another way into Chronias...

Huh, Xandra... Xerona. Is that a coincidence?

But if that's the case, how did Benfal end up in Elysium?

There is one thing that connects Celestia and Elysium, isn't there?

Maybe the gate doesn't lead to Chronias, but...

This, he ponders.

[Anastasia]

You lose yourself in it, mind cast far away as time slips away. You reflect on it all, letting your thoughts run free.

"All the paths of the Holy Mountain rise to the same summit," Xandra finally speaks, quiet. "There is but one way into Chronias." Her gaze is skybound, awash with the light from above. "Would you have it be that way, were it your choice, Moore?"

[Nephrite]

If there's only one way into Chronias, then...

He blinks, then looks over.

"Hm." A single sound that doesn't reflect much except his own consideration. "I think... it's important to have something special -- something that you only achieve if you take a certain way. I don't think I'd change the way it's set up -- since there are so many ways to arrive at the same end point. If it were different... and, say, you could only get to Chronias by following one, very specific path, then... I think I'd choose a different option."

[Anastasia]

"It is a specific path," Xandra says gently, "But our lives are never the same, specific path. We cling to it as best we can during our effort to climb higher. It's why no one can make this journey for you."

[Nephrite]

"Mm... I don't see it like that." He says, with a small smile. "It's like you said, each person is different, and each person follows their own path to what waits on the other side of the Bridge. Yes, ultimately, it goes to the same place, and perhaps, in the end, they all end up very similar in terms of their values, or what have you... but they don't get there the same way. I suppose, you could say that they do, because they all embody certain traits, but..."

A breath in and then out again. "I just don't see it like that."

There's a pause after a moment, before he smiles again.

"Here I am, in Celestia, arguing with an archon about how to get to Chronias. Maybe the people who always question that are right to do so." He says with a bit of a chuckle afterwards.

[Anastasia]

With a smile, "That sounds like you disagree but can't formulate an argument." Her words lack any sting or fire to them. "Yet sometimes simple thoughts and feelings are the hardest to put into words."

[Nephrite]

"I think... the way I see it is that the path one takes to get there is what's most important, and the changes the person makes on the way on that path are what I consider when someone asks me 'are there multiple paths to Chronias.'" Moore says.

"It goes back to the difference between the path to Chronias and the path to ending up as part of Her Majesty's dream." He adds. "Personal growth by following a path versus personal growth by following yourself. I... don't think there's that much difference, but I'm sure I'm not the first person to think that way."

[Anastasia]

Xandra merely inclines her head forward at that, "What of your problem? Have you found any guidance for it?"